Monday, May 07, 2018

Stockton High School, Class of 1918 (Carpe Diem, Photo)

Last Saturday my wife and I went to Ripon, CA, a small town near Stockton, California, to visit our nephew and his family.  We explored an antique shop in the small downtown, and I found the photo below, of the graduating class of Stockton High School, 1918 -- a hundred years ago to the month!

I often look at and buy old photos in antique shops.  People in other epochs interest me.  They are so much like us, minus the technology.  The young people in the 1918 photo below were all white save one hispanic or Filipina girl with a Minnie Mouse bow in her hair (just to the left in back of the chalkboard), and one black girl on the far right.  World War I was still raging in Europe, and wouldn't end until November 1918.  Looking through the crowd one sees fashions and hair styles of the early 20th century:  detachable collars on the boys, hair parted down the middle, sailor tops on the girls.

If you want to gaze into the faces of these students, download the picture and view it in actual size.

These young people had turbulent times in front of them:  the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War.  However, most of them would live to see television, commercial air flights, the moon landing, and the first heart transplants. If they died at age 75, they would live to see 1975 (age 18 + 57 years = 75).

Markings on the back of the picture:  John Fisher, written in fine-quilled ink pen.  In pencil:  "Don't forget the robe."

All these students are dead now.  They lived their lives and disappeared, just as we will do also.  Carpe Diem!

The magnificent old building was built in 1904 and torn down in 1966 - a waste of a historic structure.  The school also served junior high school students, and my brother and I want to 7th (me) and 8th (Bro) grades there in 1956-1957.  We were the Stockton High Tarzans, colors blue & white.

To see the complete picture, click on the image.